More than Just Duty
by Sereg5
Summary: Unknown to The Order, Miko actually has some experiance in romance, but it seems that it did not turn out well. Does her past explain her current behaviour? Miko/Sangwaan. Created to fulfil a request on The Crack Pairings Thread.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: Ok, there was a request for a Miko/Sangwaan fic. I decided to give it a try, though I asked for some ideas as at first I was unsure where to fit this fic. Thank you to those who posted suggestions as well as to Raging Gene Ray who PM'd me a lot of ideas that I am totally yoinking. The result is one of my longer and I believe better fics._

With that, here is part one of "More than Just Duty":

_Disclaimer: I am not the owner of The Order of the Stick. Rich Burlew aka The Giant is._

Finally the will of the gods has become clear to me. Lord Shojo has asked me to join the Sapphire guard and my training is now complete. I shall fulfil my destiny and serve the forces of good. Lord Shojo has brought me to meet the other members of the guard. I hope that they are as dedicated to their duties to the Twelve as I am. There are so many people here. The monastery was never this crowded. I wonder if Lord Hinjo is up to performing his duties to the Guard along with those of an heir. Yet with all these people, there is one whom demands my attention. I find myself fascinated by her...and...dare I think it…attracted. Is it appropriate for a paladin to think such things of a colleague? I wonder why she wears that blindfold. Lord Shojo's cat ordered me to "get to know" the other members of the guard. I've already been introduced to O-Chul, but perhaps I should introduce myself to this intriguing woman.

"Greetings, I am…"  
"Miko Miyazaki." she interrupted, "I am glad to finally meet you in the physical world. My name is Sangwaan. To answer the questions that you were considering asking me, I wear this blindfold as I am blind and prefer to cover my eyes. I also happen to be a diviner which is how I knew who you are and what you wanted to say. I have already requested that Lord Shojo assign you as my partner as I believe that we will work well together." I am astounded. Truly the gods must be on our side to provide us with such a potent source of intelligence gathering. It appears that this individual is more than a pretty face. Knowledge is certainly useful in purging the world of evil. This is why the gods give us paladins the ability to detect evil. "I am flattered by your trust in my abilities." I say politely, "All my successes are gifts from the gods."

I have been summoned to appear before Lord Shojo. "Miko," he says, "it is time for your first mission. Mr. Scruffy has assigned you Sangwaan as a partner at her request. I want you to listen to her. She is wise and talented in mission planning. She has already been briefed. I want you to meet her in her room to discuss her plans."  
"Your will is my own, Lord Shojo" I answer.

"So that's the plan." finishes Sangwaan. Being with her in her room is making me feel rather flustered. I must concentrate on the plan. That is what is important here. Lord Shojo was right about Sangwaan's talent in planning missions. Not that I ever doubted the word of our rightful lord appointed by the gods themselves. Sangwaan has thought this out very well and it is clear where her loyalties lie. Her concern for the mission is inspiring and motivates me further. I do not simply want to impress her. This is the will of the gods. "You have placed a lot of care and thought into this plan." I say attempting to compliment her, "By the will of the Twelve gods, we shall be victorious!"


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Right, here is part 2:_

_Disclaimer: I am not the owner of The Order of the Stick. That would be Rich Burlew aka The Giant._

Another goblin uprising crushed, another successful mission. Once again I would be dead were it not for Sangwaan's gift of strategy given to her by the gods. How many times has she saved my life now? I am not certain. Only the gods can be sure. My blades are covered in goblin blood. They must be cleaned. I return to the tent. Sangwaan is undressing. Her breasts are so firm and round. I must stop thinking of her this way. Wait, what is that? "You're injured." I say as I stare at the arrow wound in her side.  
"It's not serious like your injuries were." answers Sangwaan.  
"I have larger hit dice." I reply, "Part of my duty is to protect you yet more often it is you who protect me. I can still lay on hands. Let me help you."  
"Very well." she answers and lifts her arms for better access. I touch her and restore her hit points. Her skin is soft and smooth. I am blushing as I realize how close I am to her breasts. "You still find me attractive." comments Sangwaan.  
"What?" I say.  
"I'm a diviner." she answers, "I know how you feel about me, despite how you try to deny it. At first I wasn't sure if it wasn't merely a crush. I couldn't respond as you were still a little young for me. Yet your attraction towards me has only increased. I admire your dedication and strength. I could really benefit from having a girlfriend like you and I believe that you could benefit from having one like me." She kisses me. Would the gods declare this as wrong if they had made it feel so right?

A/N: Sorry that it's short. I had to write it quickly and I wanted to stop before the next part of the story.

Incidentally, I double checked and it turns out that human starting age for paladins is 15 + 1d6 and for monks is 15 + 2d6, therefore, I don't think that it is a stretch to say that Miko was in her late teens by the time she was finished training.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Right, here is part 3:_

_Disclaimer: I am still not Rich Burlew aka The Giant aka the owner of The Order of the Stick._

"Finally, remember that we want him alive." finishes Sangwaan.  
"I don't understand." I say, "Isn't he a necrocarnate?"  
"Yes." Sangwaan answers.  
"And they get their power by torturing good souls." I say.  
"Yes." Sangwaan responds.  
"Then how does such an individual deserve anything other than death?" I ask.  
"Everyone deserves a chance at redemption," Sangwaan responds, "but that is not why we need him. He still has a part to play in shaping the destiny of this world."  
"It still seems wrong to allow so heinous an individual to live." I say.  
"Don't worry about it, dear." she says, "Just come to bed."

I stand victorious over my foe. I am covered in blood but my katana points at his throat. "You have been defeated." I say, "Now you will accompany us to Azure City, where you will receive a fair trial." He is laughing. I don't understand. Why would one laugh at his own defeat? "Why are you laughing?" I ask.  
"I know your laws." he says, "Do you really think that I will be convicted after I destroyed the evidence? Your little "organization" is secret from the public. They can't use your testimony." Is he right? Will he go unpunished fro his unnatural crimes against the gods? "Of course, I can still have a lot of fun while I'm awaiting trial." he continues, "I wonder if I've used any of your friends or family?" This individual is utterly despicable. How can he be allowed to live? "Of course paladins souls are quite fun to torture, but they're rather weak." He must pay for his insolence! "Of course it's a real pity that I didn't manage to kill your wizard friend. I think that I could have got a lot of mileage out of her."  
"Smite evil!" I cry as I slash open his neck.

_A/N: By the way, after writing this, I started writing a fic starring this necrocarnate. I decided to name him Shinji. It is canon to this fic and obviously takes place before this chapter. Anyway, you should be able to learn a bit more about him soon. The fic is called "Body and Soul"._


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Alright part 4 of has arrived:_

_Disclaimer: The owner of The Order of the Stick is Rich Burlew aka The Giant, not me._

"I don't know why you're so upset about it. He deserved death. You heard what he said. I couldn't leave him unpunished." I say.  
"You disobeyed my orders." says Sangwaan, "I thought that you'd learned to trust me, but no, Miko knows better than the wizard whom has magical access to hidden knowledge. It so happens that that we have a prisoner that needed to witness the depths to which evil will sink before she was willing to listen to us. Now I don't know if we can turn her from the dangerous path which she is undertaking. I'll have to report your disobedience to the guard."  
"Look Sangwaan, I can't let evil just…" I begin.  
"Save it." she interrupts, "It's my job to think of the future. By disobeying me you have provided opportunities for more evil to entrench itself." I don't think that she'll talk to me for the rest of the journey back to Azure City.

"And then she killed him." says Sangwaan. Her report to the rest of the Sapphire Guard has not painted me in a good light. "Of course I suppose that asking Miko to show a little restraint in a place other than the bedroom is too much to ask." How dare she bring our personal life into this? "That was uncalled for!" I say.  
"Oh yes," Sangwaan answers, "Miko knows best. Miko is the only valued servant of the Twelve Gods. Miko is the only one who can see their plans. Anyone who disagrees with Miko must be smote."  
"Calm yourselves, both of you." says Lord Shojo but I will not be calmed and apparently, neither will Sangwaan. "I will not be with someone who refuses to trust me." She says, "You and I are through!"  
"Fine by me!" I say, "Lord Shojo, I request that my partnership with this wizard be ended."  
"I concur." answers Sangwaan.  
"Mr. Scruffy thinks that that would be best." says Lord Shojo. "Now Sangwaan, about that prisoner that had your concern, I have decided that she deserves a light sentence. You said that she could be swayed to our side with the proper environment. Lord Kubota has requested permission to hire her. He says that he could use a half-orc member of staff and that she has skills that he will find useful. Is this acceptable?"  
"I suppose so." she answers but continues to mumble, "What's the point in checking if those you care about most don't listen to you?"


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Alright, this is part 5:_

_Disclaimer: I am not the owner of The Order of the Stick. Rich Burlew aka The Giant is._

These adventurers may be corrupt and greedy with little concern for the immaterial, yet if what they say is true, then their efforts were truly for a noble goal. I really wish to trust the dwarf, yet trust is not something that I easily give to other mortals. They certainly grate on my nerves, especially the elf and the halfling. Perhaps that is a side-benefit of being forced to stay in a private room. That I can spend my time alone but for the gods, away from these adventurers, where I can meditate and pray freely. If what these adventurers say is true, then why didn't Sangwaan inform us? She merely stated that they had destroyed Dorukan's Gate. Of course, in recent years, Sangwaan has become more half-hearted in her predictions. It seems that she cannot cope with the loneliness of our separation as well as I can. I have learned that the best way to deal with evil is to strike hard, fast and thoroughly, leaving no foothold for it to gain. That is something that Sangwaan never understood. Of course, I am used to being alone from my time at the monastery. Still, the company of these adventurers has reminded me of what it was like to work as a team. Perhaps this is why I am thinking about Sangwaan …missing her…No, that is over! I have seen that no more good can come of that relationship …or have I? Greenhilt's advances have stirred up the memories of what it was like to be the object of another's affection. Of course, Sangwaan was more subtle and less crude. Greenhilt may be attractive, but unless he learns maturity in his treatment of the opposite sex, he will never compare with Sangwaan. If the Twelve Gods have decided that my time with Sangwaan is all the romance that I will be allowed in this life, then I must live with that. Yet the gods are kind and good, perhaps there is another that they have planned for me to be with. Then I can truly forget about Sangwaan.

_A/N: Yes, I know, it was very short. However, I'm using the pattern of each part occurs in a different part of Miko's life and I think that it works well for this. Not even Raging Gene Ray knew about the scene that part 6 will show, though it was partially inspired by some earlier suggestions. The final will be a longer though. Also, the "or have I" was apparently too jarring for the mood that I was going for. Sorry about that, but I'm not sure what would have been better._


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Thank you to those who are enjoying the fic, despite the problem that I mentioned in the last chapter (as well as the last line in this one) and sorry that I didn't manage to get those parts right. Anyway, here is part 6 of "More than Just Duty":_

_Disclaimer: The owner of The Order of the Stick is Rich Burlew aka The Giant, not me._

Oh Twelve Gods, why have you turned from me? Is it my destiny to be abandoned by all whom I love? No, I will not accept that this is my fate. You have a plan for me. I need only to discover it. The other prisoners are distracting. If only I could be alone with you. Then I would know when you showed me my destiny. Wait, someone is coming. Could it be? Yes, it's Sangwaan!

"Sangwaan, have you come back to me?" I ask. Could this be the time when things finally begin to come right? When I will be rewarded for my duty to the gods. Will she return to me and reveal how I can atone to the gods. "I am here on Hinjo's orders." She says coldly. "Hinjo has asked us to bring all prisoners over level five to see him. However, I think he has seen enough of you, Miko." She turns to the guards. "According to the official records, we need to bring the halfling, the goth theurge, the larcenist and the old kidnapper."

As the guards lead the prisoners off, I call out, "How could you still be so bitter?"  
"Go ahead, I'll handle this." she says to the guards. When we are alone, she begins to speak, "I thought that we had finished this discussion years ago. You disobeyed my orders. How can I trust you again? And now, once again, you have proved your tendency to kill people whom you were merely meant to take into custody. I'm actually shocked at the patience the Twelve have shown you. You should have fallen after you killed that necrocarnate."  
"How can you believe that?" I ask, "He threatened YOU! It was for your safety."  
"He was an INCARNUM user." she replies, "I am a WIZARD. What was he going to do?"  
I hesitate, "He could have gotten lucky and critted you with a greataxe..." I begin.  
"The greataxe that we would have confiscated?" she asks.  
"Um…" I say, "No…the one that he may have kept hidden in case he was captured." Sangwaan places her face in her palm before suddenly lifting it and beginning to wildly gesture whilst yelling, "Because of your indiscretion, he will be raised and reach 18th level in service of an evil, hobgoblin army! Perhaps this army. I didn't bother checking."  
"Will he have any useful class features by then?" I ask.  
"Well, no...but it's the principle of the thing!" answers Sangwaan. "I'm finished with this conversation. Goodbye, Miko." She walks out the door.  
"No, Sangwaan!" I cry, "Don't leave me again! Sangikins…!"

_A/N: For those of you who don't know, I must give Raging Gene Ray credit for the incarnum joke which I used practically word for word with just a couple of minor additions. I hope that it adds some light humour to an otherwise sad scene. Unfortunately, I quickly developed an intense hatred of the last line. It doesn't do what I wanted it to and I've seriously considered rewriting it. The irony is that it was the very first line that I wrote of the entire fic. I guess that as a fic evolves, sometimes certain things don't fit anymore._


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: Alright, part 7 (the final) of "More than Just Duty":_

_Disclaimer: I am not The owner of the Order of the Stick. That is Rich Burlew aka The Giant._

"I can live with that." I say but it appears that my body does not agree. I find myself in a very long line among the clouds. Asking around reveals that I am in Celestia. It turns out that many of my people have fallen. I should be here for some time. An angel approaches. "Ah, you're here." she says, "I need you to come with me. You're relevant to another case so I thought that it would be better if I assessed you together." She leads me by the arm to the front of the line where I come face to face with a rather angry-looking Sangwaan. "Well," says the angel, "we've already done most of what we need to here, however, when I realized that you had arrived, I decided to do the next part with you as you are involved. I am a bureaucratic deva. I will be assessing both your cases to determine whether or not you belong in the Lawful Good afterlife…or…somewhere else." Sangwaan gives me a dirty look.  
"Well one of us doesn't belong here." she says.  
"That's for me to decide." says the deva. "However, perhaps it would be a good idea to assess Miko first. Miko, you have spent your life devoted to justice, always eager to serve your gods of which the head of the pantheon is Lawful Good." I smile. "You where recruited to be a paladin and took your vows seriously. You attempted to cleanse the world of evil and injustice." I am going where I belong.  
"Oh, she did lots of cleansing alright." says Sangwaan.  
"I believe that your ex is referring to the fact that you tended to use violence as your first resort rather than your last. This has become more prevalent since the two of you split up. Also you used violence against those whom were merely chaotic and not evil at all."  
"I did what I had to, to remove the stain of evil." I say.  
"But Miko," begins the deva, "it's not killing evil people that defines "good". Even evil people kill other evil people. To be good is to work for the benefit of others even if it costs you. We fight evil individuals because they will harm others if it will benefit them and when we can defeat evil without killing, then we have truly achieved our goal."  
"But of course you'd never understand that would you?" says Sangwaan.  
"Hold on there Sangwaan." says the deva, "I wouldn't say that. Miko has always desired a world where all work together in peace and happiness to serve the gods. That is not such a bad goal if a little badly implemented. However we do not punish stupidity or foolishness."  
"How about treason?" asks Sangwaan.  
"Ah," begins the deva, "about that. Yes Miko, you killed your rightful ruler who was a good man even if he used questionable methods. He was certainly not someone whom deserved execution. Of course you lost your paladinhood for that transgression. Also, there's the matter of your dealings with the Order of the Stick."  
"The foul servants of Xykon." I say.  
"And once again Miko demonstrates that in her world, she does all the judging." says Sangwaan.  
"I believe that Sangwaan is attempting to inform you that The Order of the Stick were not agents of Xykon." says the deva.  
"They lied about destroying him. They used trickery to escape the justice of their trial for destroying a gate. They're corrupt, evil thieves obsessed with gold and material comforts." I say.  
"They were ignorant of their failure to destroy him." says the deva, "If ignorance was a sin then you'd be in a lot more trouble than you are. They were not aware of the trickery involved in the trial at the time and if they had a fair trial they should have won anyway. They were never out to harm reality by destroying the gate, in fact they've been trying to protect it. Finally, while they may not posses your asceticism, they are not evil (with the exception of one of them). In fact, I let one of them in here earlier."  
"Impossible!" I cry, "It must be one of their tricks! They are evil!"  
"Miko!" says the deva dangerously, "Do you really want to suggest that I am incompetent in my work?" She is right. I've been making hasty decisions without determining whether or not they make sense. "I apologize." I say, "I believe you."  
"Good," says the deva, "then we can move on. You've certainly always tried to help pave the way to a world of law and good and that is what matters to us." She's letting me in.  
"What about disobedience?" says Sangwaan, "That's not very lawful."  
"Indeed." says the deva, "There are other issues to deal with. Miko, whilst you believed that killing the necrocarnate was necessary, which was certainly understandable in your situation, you must learn that your actions have important consequences that are not always immediately obvious. That is why it was important for you to exercise temperance and listen to your superior. You've only become worse with these over the years. Look at how you handled The Order of the Stick." Suddenly I'm angry again. I turn to Sangwaan.  
"You could have told me that they were not our enemies. That they were fighting an evil lich. You are the one who got me into this."  
"While Miko can't blame her actions on you," says the deva, "she does have a point. One that I need to deal with for your evaluation."  
"I…" begins Sangwaan, "believed that my prophesies didn't matter anymore. What's the point of knowing the future if people don't listen to you. Not even those you care about most." A tear drips down her face. "How could you do that to me? Why should I make prophesies if I'm ignored? You took away the purpose of my life!"  
"Now that's a little on the overdramatic side." says the deva, "You took an instance of someone disobeying you in a situation where it was understandable and used it to justify your self-pity. Since then you've been neglecting your duties. Even if you were right and no one listened to your prophecies, your duty to give them would still be present. Miko, on the other hand, chose to become someone who smites first and then decides if there's a point in asking questions. When you to broke up, you both turned away from your path. However, we understand what love can do to people very well. You have both been accepted into Celestia." We've been let in! I hug them both, then let go with embarrassment. My cheeks grow warm. "I guess that I never tried to see things from your perspective." says Sangwaan, "I'm sorry. Could you forgive me?"  
"Of course." I say, "And could you forgive me?"  
"Yes." she smiles, "And it looks like we've got all eternity to spend making up to each other." I may not be able to live with that, but I'll certainly enjoy it.

_A/N: Wow, Sereg wrote something of a decent length! The world is going to end!_


End file.
